Montana Elk · Hunting District 702

Montana Hunting District 702 spans 1,768,397 acres, centered 9 miles north of Colstrip. 12% of it is public land, mostly state trust land (6%) and BLM (4%). In 2025, hunters took 263 elk here; hunter counts not published. Its most applied-for hunt, 702-20, put up 15 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 46 nonresident first-choice applicants, 12 of whom drew.

New for 2026: The First Draw Held Here

Hunting District 702 did not exist before the 2026 elk draw. The chances below are that one draw's actual results, not an estimate, and there is no point-creep trend to read yet.

Tags, 2026
30

2 licenses · NR capped at 10%

Applicants
49

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
—

not published

Public Land
12%

6% State

Size
2,763 mi²

1,768,397 acres

Colstrip Forsyth Miles City Hardin 702

Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.

Best Bets at 0 Points

Ranked by your odds times how often that license type's hunters filled their tag in 2025. Nonresident, first choice, 2026 draw; licenses with at least 10 tags that anyone can buy.

Every License in Hunting District 702

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it
702-20 Standard 2% —
Landowner 100% —

First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2026 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file.

Draw results: Montana FWP 2026 Elk Permit Drawing Statistics Report, retrieved Aug 31, 2026.

If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): Standard $92.50 ($92.50 to apply) · Landowner $92.50 ($92.50 to apply). Open Mar 1 – Apr 1, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

Harvest

Year Elk
2025 263
2024 284
2023 184
2022 220

2025 split: nonresidents 47, residents 216

What Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks publishes after each season, for everyone who hunted the area: harvest statistics, not draw odds. Hunter counts not published for 2025. Montana's figures blend mandatory reporting with a phone and mail survey. FWP does not publish district-level hunter counts for elk or antelope, so success rates are missing for those. Source: Montana FWP 2025 Elk Harvest Estimates; Montana FWP 2024 Elk Harvest Estimates; Montana FWP 2023 Elk Harvest Estimates.

The Ground

Private 1,556,013 ac 88%
State trust land 107,341 ac 6%
BLM 64,016 ac 4%
Other public 39,788 ac 2%
County or city land 530 ac <1%
Bureau of Reclamation 0 ac <1%
Department of Defense 0 ac <1%
National Park Service 0 ac <1%
National Forest 0 ac <1%
State land 0 ac <1%
National Wildlife Refuge 0 ac <1%
Tribal 0 ac <1%

Source: Montana FWP 2026-2027 Deer Elk Lion Hunting District….

What the Agency Says About the Area

Elk Management Unit: Southeastern Montana

Source: Montana FWP 2026 Deer and Elk Hunting Districts.

▸ Sources 11
  1. Montana FWP 2026 Elk Permit Drawing Statistics Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  2. Montana Legislature 2026 MCA 87-2-113 Application fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  3. Montana Legislature 2026 MCA 87-2-116 Base hunting license… fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  4. Montana FWP 2026 Hunting Requirements fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  5. Montana FWP 2026 Nonresident License Fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  6. Montana FWP 2025 Elk Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  7. Montana FWP 2024 Elk Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  8. Montana FWP 2023 Elk Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  9. Montana FWP 2022 Elk Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  10. Montana FWP 2026 Deer and Elk Hunting Districts boundary, area description, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  11. Montana FWP 2026-2027 Deer Elk Lion Hunting District… land ownership, retrieved Aug 31, 2026

About These Numbers

Odds are from the 2026 draw, the latest on file, computed from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' published results. They are what happened in that draw, not a forecast. Under five tags a percentage carries a *, because one applicant either way swings it. A dash means the agency did not publish the number, and a date marked expected is last cycle's schedule rolled forward. How we compute these.

Report an error on this page

Every report is checked against the agency source before we change anything.

We don't take applications: check Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks's site and apply there.

Prior-draw odds from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' results, not a forecast · Methodology · All Montana elk hunts